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"I told T.J. to look at other places,
but I knew he was coming here. He
always pictured himself in a Wisconsin singlet," Kyle said of his brother.
Wurtz's return a welcome sight for Badgers
Senior back in lineup after being sidelined with back injury in 2012-13
BY DIANE NORDSTROM
UW ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
aylor Wurtz is excited. Not only to be back
on the court after missing last season with
a lingering back problem, but also excited
about what her team could do in 2013-14.
"I'm so excited to be back," said Wurtz, a fifthyear senior from Brandon, Wis. "It's been so great
to be back on the court, practicing with the team
and being able to actually go through the drills
and go through all of the practices."
The 6-foot guard played in five games for the
Wisconsin women's basketball team in 2012-13
before being forced to take a medical redshirt. As
one of only two seniors on last year's team and
the Badgers' top scorer and rebounder as a junior,
Wurtz was indecisive about what to do with her
injury.
"I was going back and forth as to what to do,"
Wurtz said of her decision to redshirt last season.
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VARSITY October 24, 2013
"I was in pain but obviously I didn't want to redshirt my senior year. Looking back at it now, I'm
really happy I did it. My teammates, my coaches
and my family were great, really supporting me
through that time."
As a junior, Wurtz earned third-team All-Big
Ten honors, leading UW with 16.1 points and 7.6
rebounds per game. She played in five games in
2012-13, averaging 12.6 points and 7.0 rebounds,
before taking a redshirt season.
Wurtz had surgery on her back in early January
and slowly made her way back to the court.
"My back feels great," Wurtz said. "I'm 100 percent back into it. I have no restrictions. So far it's
been good and I'm hoping that it stays like that."
In addition to getting her back into shape to
play again, Wurtz spent most of last season on
the bench learning the game from a different per-